Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Cheers Larry,
You can't beat a bit of almost derelict rusty iron on a building to add a bit of rust(ic) charm...
7mm Pencarrow - Cornish BR(S)
- Thread starter Pencarrow
- Start date
You can't beat a bit of almost derelict rusty iron on a building to add a bit of rust(ic) charm...
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Thanks Mike, just pondering what to have a crack at next. There's one or two part complete buildings that I might have a go at finishing. Always gets busy on the run up to Christmas, so who knows...
Porters building revisited Nov 2023
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Whilst I've been working on the provender store there's been a part finished building in my eyeline all the time. It's something I started one or two years ago (I suspect looking up the exact date would be a little soul destroying) and predates every other building on the layout.
It's the Porter's building...
Now, shock horror, not only do I have scale drawings for it...
...but also loads of photos from every side.
I think it deserves to be finished off?
It's the Porter's building...
Now, shock horror, not only do I have scale drawings for it...
...but also loads of photos from every side.
I think it deserves to be finished off?
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Other than the obvious roof formers and main chimney stack, it doesn't look like I've done much. But I have done a lot around the door and window openings, plus the bottom base strip, and a few other minor mods.
Still trying to find the photos of the original build so I can work out how I did the front stonework, not helped my the images being lost on my original RMweb layout thread.
Beer was involved in the build so far...
Still trying to find the photos of the original build so I can work out how I did the front stonework, not helped my the images being lost on my original RMweb layout thread.
Beer was involved in the build so far...
michael mott
Western Thunderer
Not for colouring I hope!
Michael
Michael
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Medicinal purposes only...
Purple-haze
Western Thunderer
Michael, surely that's alcohol abuse?
regards Rog
regards Rog
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Some early morning modelling has seen the main roof structure being added.
As is usual I apply this in two 20thou layers made up of strips at 90deg. Over the years this has proven to be the best method for getting the roof layer stuck firmly to the formers with no fear of it coming loose or lifting.
This method also enables undulations to be built into the roof, getting away from the dead flat look. In this case the undulations are small, unlike the grain store! IMO it's the slight imperfections that make a building look more realistic.
Base layer going on...
And the top layer...
Thankfully I remembered to leave space for the second chimney stack. The red marker pen did the trick!
As is usual I apply this in two 20thou layers made up of strips at 90deg. Over the years this has proven to be the best method for getting the roof layer stuck firmly to the formers with no fear of it coming loose or lifting.
This method also enables undulations to be built into the roof, getting away from the dead flat look. In this case the undulations are small, unlike the grain store! IMO it's the slight imperfections that make a building look more realistic.
Base layer going on...
And the top layer...
Thankfully I remembered to leave space for the second chimney stack. The red marker pen did the trick!
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
I also remembered to add holes into the roof space to let the solvent fumes out. Very important if you don't want the roof to turn to mush later on. (Roof was written on the roof base to stop me accidentally using the plasticard for something else, which has happened in the past 
.)
The walls are deliberately a scale thickness. The reason for this was two fold. First to enable the heavily recessed doors and windows to be modelled correctly, and second, to allow the interior to be potentially modelled.
It was also a small-scale trial for the main station building which is similarly heavily recessed and, being right at the front of the layout, will be fully detailed inside. And yes, I am putting off starting that build...
.)The walls are deliberately a scale thickness. The reason for this was two fold. First to enable the heavily recessed doors and windows to be modelled correctly, and second, to allow the interior to be potentially modelled.
It was also a small-scale trial for the main station building which is similarly heavily recessed and, being right at the front of the layout, will be fully detailed inside. And yes, I am putting off starting that build...
Lyndhurstman
Western Thunderer
Very nice, Chris.
I like the ‘triple decker’ approach to the walls. It speaks of solidity and permanence. I did similar with the Enginemen’s Bothy on Brinkley (still on the circuit, I believe). But most of the reasoning behind that was to make sure the window frames fitted well into the aperture.
Cheers
Jan
I like the ‘triple decker’ approach to the walls. It speaks of solidity and permanence. I did similar with the Enginemen’s Bothy on Brinkley (still on the circuit, I believe). But most of the reasoning behind that was to make sure the window frames fitted well into the aperture.
Cheers
Jan
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
The underside view is slightly misleading Simon. There's a solid front and rear face, the layers in-between are a latticework of narrow strips with lots of gaps. So far from solid and much, much less plastic than it looks.
I'm trying to find the original build photos to illustrate this better.
As for cost, this is again probably less than it looks as many of the spacing strips where made out of the pile of offcuts (inc door and window hole bits) and odd shaped sheet remnants you end up with. Hence why few of the spacers are the same width. When making stuff I do keep all but the smallest offcuts and trimmings for reuse.
I've never costed a build in terms of materials but I suspect the £/HR of enjoyment is very low.
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Thanks Jan. As I said, this was very much an experiment to trial a possible technique for the much larger, but similarly built, main station. It was also one of the very first things I started making in 7mm. Lots of water under the bridge in the last few years, and I suspect the station build will be slightly different. I will still go for the scale wall thickness, this is needed for the recessed doors and windows, but suspect the spacing method of the main layers will be different.
And whilst pondering future construction...
It's interesting that over the years I've had a lot of feedback and comments that I over-engineer my buildings, and yes they are built somewhat close to battleship grade, but... 35yrs of making buildings for exhibition layouts, and seeing buildings leant on, dropped, roughly handled, and subjected to a variety of environmental conditions has taught be a load of hard lessons.
I certainly build to last, and as such can't do it commercially as people just wouldn't pay for my time and the materials. Everything I've made in the last 25yrs still exists and it's very, very rare that I have to repair or remake anything. I can't say the same for a fair few buildings I've seen on some other layouts which have parts warping, lifting, parting or broken.
It depends what interests you. I like making buildings and doing scenics, so that's where I put my time and effort. I can understand how those not having the same bent would want to get something finished as quickly and with as little effort as possible. It's a broad church...
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Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Thinking more about it...
There will probably be 1 sheet of 20thou, 6 sheets of 30 or 40thou, 4 Wills stone sheets, 2 sheets of York Model Making slates and a few lengths of various microstrip. So I would guess around £30-40 in materials, about the same as a Slaters 7mm wagon kit.
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Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Stone cladding continues...
Random bits or random thickness scrap added with some initial roughing up of the bits prior to gluing and then finishing off the texture once set in place.
And to illustrate the typical scrap pile I have to draw from on the side of the bench...
This is the pile from the builds of the rear houses, the provender store and the porter's building.
Random bits or random thickness scrap added with some initial roughing up of the bits prior to gluing and then finishing off the texture once set in place.
And to illustrate the typical scrap pile I have to draw from on the side of the bench...
This is the pile from the builds of the rear houses, the provender store and the porter's building.
simond
Western Thunderer
Thanks Chris,
I realised you lattice and space out the wall panels, and the results of do doing speak for themselves. It was more a case of “is this the same sort of cost per building as the other ways of doing it?” And the answer, to a first approximation, is “yes, more or less”
now, compared with locos…. The chassis is pretty cheap, it’s the details, like wheels…
I realised you lattice and space out the wall panels, and the results of do doing speak for themselves. It was more a case of “is this the same sort of cost per building as the other ways of doing it?” And the answer, to a first approximation, is “yes, more or less”
now, compared with locos…. The chassis is pretty cheap, it’s the details, like wheels…
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
It's MEK Nick, in this case from Hobby Holidays. The only make I don't use now is Slater's own. It used to be great but they changed the formulation about 5 years ago and it now smells rank and doesn't seem to stick as well as some. (To be fair I've not bought any Slater's MekPak for a while and that might not be the case anymore).
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Thanks Chris,
I realised you lattice and space out the wall panels, and the results of do doing speak for themselves. It was more a case of “is this the same sort of cost per building as the other ways of doing it?” And the answer, to a first approximation, is “yes, more or less”
now, compared with locos…. The chassis is pretty cheap, it’s the details, like wheels…
You can certainly rack up quite a sizeable bill on locos buying wheels, motor and castings...
I dread to think how much I've spent on the 1366 on replacement parts.